MAPLEWOOD — It could have been a deadly combination: a hot dog in a hot car.

Maplewood police responded to the Maplewood Community Pool on Boyden Avenue shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a small dog panting inside a car, Capt. John Perna said today.

When responding officers arrived, they found a small "hot dog" type dog inside a Volkswagen with its windows rolled up in the pool parking lot, Perna said.

They ran the license plates and contacted the owner who was inside the pool, according to Perna.

Perna declined to identify the 55-year-old Maplewood man but said animal cruelty charges are forthcoming.

Once contacted, the man "came out and rectified the situation," Perna said. It was not immediately clear how long the dog had been inside the car.

Police estimated the outside temperature was about 94 degrees, but according to Perna it was likely much hotter inside the Volkswagen.

"I would think it would be because the windows were up, but I can't give an estimate of that," he said.

A patron heading into the pool reported the dog inside the car, Perna said.

UNCONSCIOUS DOG IN NEWARK

In Newark this afternoon, where the temperature climbed to 98 degrees, city animal control officer Arthur Skinner said he came across a mixed-breed dog that went unconscious after overheating to 107.5 degrees.

Skinner responded to a home on Brill Street around 2 p.m. and discovered a dog that had suffered heat stroke.

Apparently, a man who was suppose to be the caretaker had left the dog outside and the female owner was unaware but became furious when she learned her dog had been caged outdoors for about six hours with no water, Skinner said.

By the afternoon, Skinner said he had already responded to three heat-related emergencies in the city.

"The dog was passed out," said Skinner who rushed the dog to the Associated Humane Societies in Newark. "The doc was like, I'm surprised the dog is still alive."